Mr. Darcy, William and Biak Bay
bring many gifts to life here
at Turtle Rock Farm.
To be with these creatures
is the best gift.
We also value their manure
for composting the soil.
And every spring,
when we have them sheared
before the heat of the summer,
they give their warm, silk winter coats.
We have sold the fleeces
to a fiber artist.
We have had the fleeces
made into skeins of yarn.
We have put the coarsest parts of the fleece
in pillows
and also made them available for birds’ nesting.
This year,
we sent the fleeces
to be cleaned and made into batting
which we could use for felting.
And, with family members home
for the holidays,
we loaded up great bags of the batting
and drove to Timberlake Farms
near Arcadia, OK,
where owner Steve Hull
taught us how to use his felting machine.
In one afternoon, the six of us
made blankets, scarves, hangings.